Don't Go
by Inks Arrow
Summary: Hermione, the best witch to attend Hogwarts in decades, is leaving. For good. Unless a certain redheaded, freckly boy can give her a very good reason not to. Now what could that possibly be? Obvious R/H set to Where are you Going by the Dave Mathews Band.


**__**

Don't Go.

Once again, Hermione was buried (hidden) in piles of books. Her friend sat bemused, he had asked her before why she studied so hard. But he didn't bother anymore. Her answers had never satisfied him, he just knew better now. Books were as much a part of Hermione as her heart and he knew very well just how big that was. Ink flowed through her veins, paper made her skin, and words surged through her mind. But as much as they were a part of her, he also knew they were an escape from the horrors now plaguing her and his other best friend more than the rest of the world. They were closer to home than humanly imaginable and she needed to keep her books near her to keep her sane. 

__

Where are you going? 

With your long face pulling down, don't hide away 

Like an ocean that you can't see but you can smell 

And the sound of the waves crash down 

Though Ron never intended to explain to her how he knew this, he knew it helped them both. Especially on today, today, was another day, another bad day. Hermione refused to explain this to Ron as always. She felt she didn't have too, he should know. And he did. But it should still be talked about. She said it was just her head. She just needed some rest, she practically screamed, storming into her dorm when he dared ask. Undaunted (Hermione yelled at him at least eight times a day, he would have been worried otherwise), he went after her. 

__

I am no superman 

I have no reasons for you 

And I am no hero, oh, that's for sure 

But I do know one thing 

Where you are is where I belong 

I do know where you go 

Is where I want to be

Hermione, smarter than half of the professors, had managed to find a way to bring muggle music to Hogwarts and Lavender, thanking Hermione for this, had left the mechanism on. As Ron stood in the doorway an early, a mellow tune played as he watched her crying, silently and scared. The world was on her shoulders at her own invitation. However, it seemed to have overstayed its welcome. 

__

Where are you going? 

Where do you go? 

__

Are you looking for answers to questions under the stars? 

If along the way 

You are grown weary you can rest with me until 

A brighter day and you're OK

Without even looking up, she tells him she's fine. She's just had a bad day. Many little things plague her. Many things that would seem so unimportant in any other time picked at her making the overall task of life impossible. There was nothing she could do, it was just "so horrid." She wanted out, and she wanted out now. 

__

I am no superman 

I have no answers for you 

Am no hero, oh that's for sure   
But I do know one thing   
Where you are is where I belong   
I do know where you go is where I want to be

It would be easy. A mind like Hermione's did not spurt out things like this irrationally. She had it all planned, though when she had done so neither knew. She could easily drop out of school, transfer to a muggle community school in America, away from the threat for a time. Any school would love to have her, and she knew it. She could live out her life never using magic again, never concerning herself with the fate of the world and continue her life a numb muggle, immune to feeling anything for anyone. After using one spell of course. A spell to wipe the person's memory clean of its stain, letting them start new. She was going to do it, unless someone gave her a reason she hadn't heard before. 

__

Where are you going?   
Where do you go?   
I am no superman, I have no answers for you   
I am no hero, oh, that's for sure   
But I do know one thing   
Where you are is where I belong

She knew she was giving up. She knew she was taking the easy way out and even from this side of the choice she knew it was wrong. Harry was shutting them out and unless someone gave her a new reason to watch everyone she loved die, to be forced to hurt others; Hermione was leaving. Ron knew a perfectly good reason why she should stay. He just didn't feel like voicing it at the moment, or at any other moment, ever, in the entire history of his seven years of schooling, and possibly after that. But she couldn't leave, not now, not him!

__

Where are you going?   
Where do you go?   
Where are you going?   
Where?

Her eyes were red, her cheeks were stained with tears, and she was pleading for a reason to stay in this place. She would die if she left it; Hermione was a witch and needed magic. But it was so painful, and with nothing to sustain her through the pain… She finally looked up, strait in his eyes, Hermione never spoke to the floor, she always looked everyone strait in the face. It was one of the things Ron had grown to expect and respect about his "friend." She asked him one more time, "I just don't see a reason to stay, I want to, but I can't. Ron, please. Tell me a reason." 

__

I do know where you go

Is where I want to be

A Weasley never backs down from a challenge. He sat down, put his arm around her and took a deep breath, "Hermione, I-"

__

Let's go.

Fin- Part One.

A.N. This is one of three, the rest will come in about two month stints, to see what I'm planning to upload next see my bio. Now I know I promised this on Saint Pats but my PC crashed and was down for a week and then, like a horrible person, I forgot to upload until last night when I woke up and almost screamed at all the stuff on my computer (including updates) that I had forgotten to do. My deepest and humblest apologies, I hope you enjoyed it anyway despite its lateness. Cheerio! Midnight Arrow - 


End file.
